Offseason silence in basketball may not be a bad sign

Southeast Missouri State University basketball fans hope no news turns out to be good news.

The Indians' coaching staff no doubt is hoping for the same thing.

Southeast's men's program, with three available scholarships for the spring signing period that runs from April 16 through May 15, still has not yet landed anybody.

And the reason for that is simple. Guard Josh Gonner and 6-foot-10 forward-center Randy Holbrook, a pair of touted recruits, have been taking other visits and have not yet made their decisions, but both reportedly still have Southeast high on their list.

Southeast coaches are prohibited by NCAA rules from commenting on specific recruits until they sign, but it's clear they are going to wait on Gonner and Holbrook a while longer before seriously pursuing some of their other recruits. They'd be foolish not to.

The several new players that are already in the fold for next season figure to make Southeast a much improved product. But the addition of Gonner and Holbrook would further increase the Indians' chances of contending for the Ohio Valley Conference championship.

So the waiting game continues.

Still on the subject of Southeast men's basketball: While the official hiring probably won't take place until early this week, assistant coach Keno Davis is leaving the Indians to become an assistant at Drake, where he will work under his father.

Tom Davis, one of the nation's most respected head coaches before being unceremoniously dumped at Iowa following the 1998-99 season, was hired by Drake on Tuesday after being out of coaching for four years.

Keno Davis, who like his father is a class act, did great work in his six seasons with the Indians under coach Gary Garner. But you can't blame a guy for wanting to work on the sidelines with his dad. That's got to be a dream come true.

Here's wishing Keno -- who I got to know well while covering the Indians and who I consider a friend -- all the best as he and his dad try to turn around a Drake program that has not had a winning season since 1986-87.

Coincidentally, the last coach to have a winning season at Drake was Garner, who led the Bulldogs to a 17-14 record in 1986-87.

It really is a small world, isn't it?

I always enjoy following the NFL draft, which is going on this weekend, and here's hoping Southeast product Willie Ponder has his name called today when the event concludes with rounds four through seven.

Willie, the Indians' sensational wide receiver the past two seasons, is somebody I'm really rooting for because he's a super young man in addition to being a tremendous athlete.

Even if Willie doesn't get drafted, he'll be invited to an NFL training camp. Either way, I look for him to get paid for playing on Sundays this year.

One more NFL draft note: It was neat to see Miami running back Willis McGahee taken 23rd overall Saturday.

Once projected to be a top-five pick, a lot of people thought McGahee would never play again after he suffered a serious knee injury during Miami's Jan. 5 national championship loss to Ohio State.

But McGahee has made a remarkable recovery from major surgery and, almost amazingly, just might be ready to play this season.

Now that's a feel-good story if ever there was one.

The NBA playoffs have been plenty exciting so far with some unbelievable individual performances.

Even though they were only seeded fifth in the Western Conference, most people -- myself included -- considered the Lakers the favorites to win their fourth straight championship.

But if they seriously want to keep those hopes alive, they'd probably better beat the Timberwolves today. Minnesota, featuring something of a local flavor as Carbondale, Ill., native Troy Hudson is having a big series, leads 2-1.

Kudos to Southeast's Delta Chi Fraternity, which collected donations and wrote out a check for $480 Wednesday during Support the Troops Day at the Otahkians' softball game against Eastern Illinois.

That is impressive.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.